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Who travels with a stolen passport?
CNN Travel ^ | March 10, 2014 | By Katia Hetter and Karla Cripps

Posted on 03/10/2014 4:46:55 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer

How difficult is it to board a plane with a stolen passport?

Not as hard as you might think.

In any major international airport, it's not uncommon to have your passport checked four times or more between check-in and boarding the aircraft. But if passenger documents aren't checked against Interpol's database of Stolen and Lost Travel Documents, travelers using those documents can slip through layers of security.

Investigators don't yet know if the travelers with stolen passports had anything to do with the plane's disappearance. On any given day, many people travel using stolen or fake passports for reasons that have nothing to with terrorism, aviation security expert Richard Bloom told CNN.

They might be trying to immigrate illegally to another country, or they might be smuggling stolen goods, people, drugs or weapons or trying to import otherwise legal goods without paying taxes, said Bloom, director of terrorism, intelligence and security studies at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

"For all of those reasons, the very notion that passports might be important in this particular situation may be a red herring," Bloom said.

(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: malaysia; planecrash; stolenpassports
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1 posted on 03/10/2014 4:46:55 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
Terrorist certainly might.But there are other explanations as well.
2 posted on 03/10/2014 4:50:46 PM PDT by Gay State Conservative (Stalin Blamed The Kulaks,Obama Blames The Tea Party)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Drug Smugglers, illegals trying to get asylum..but the fact that you have a man named Mr. Ali in Iran, paying cash the night before a flight for two men with stolen passports raises the biggest red flag ever. This smells like a dry run, some say “Well how come no one has claimed responsibility yet” well why would they, if they have figured out the trick to get on board a plane and destroy it why would they tell. Also, the five people who booked their flights but never got on board, what do they have to do with all this


3 posted on 03/10/2014 4:55:02 PM PDT by Sarah Barracuda
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Passports have your photo in it. Don’t passport checkers compare your face with the passport photo?


4 posted on 03/10/2014 4:57:02 PM PDT by Vinylly
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Less than 2% on an international flight with fraudulent passports may not be unusual.


5 posted on 03/10/2014 4:58:20 PM PDT by Oliviaforever
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To: Gay State Conservative

As I have been reading about stolen passports and the passengers who didn’t board, one amusing thought that I have had, is how unlucky for any criminal types who are connected in any way with that flight, who were merely conducting their quiet, routine criminal activities, and living under the radar.

That moment has sure passed.


6 posted on 03/10/2014 4:58:25 PM PDT by ansel12 (Libertarianism offers the transitory concepts and dialogue to move from conservatism, to liberalism.)
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To: Gay State Conservative

Spy’s and drug dealers mainly.


7 posted on 03/10/2014 4:58:45 PM PDT by Usagi_yo (Standardization is an Evolutionary dead end.)
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To: Sarah Barracuda

Five people not showing for that flight is a small number.


8 posted on 03/10/2014 5:01:05 PM PDT by Oliviaforever
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To: Vinylly

In some of these countries they are more concerned about collecting an entry fee or returning stupid paper work. I know they don’t look very hard at pictures. In one country, the Guy was looking at the picture on my Brasilian VISA.


9 posted on 03/10/2014 5:01:28 PM PDT by 11th Commandment ("THOSE WHO TIRE LOSE")
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

The Airlines do more checking on the credit card you used to buy the tickets than they do the passport you’re identifying yourself with.


10 posted on 03/10/2014 5:01:50 PM PDT by Yo-Yo (Is the /sarc tag really necessary?)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

My nephew just flew to Ireland and after getting on board realized that they had given him another person’s boarding pass from the check-in counter. He had gotten by at least 4 checks. If he had not brought it up to the cabin attendant no one would have said a word. They made him deplane, retrieve his luggage and check it in again.


11 posted on 03/10/2014 5:02:26 PM PDT by Cyman (We have to pass it to see what's in it= definition of stool sample)
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To: Oliviaforever

If understand the story correctly, the five DID show up for the flight and checked their baggage, but didn’t get in line to board.

Likely more is known about these five than anyone is saying right now.


12 posted on 03/10/2014 5:05:38 PM PDT by jjotto ("Ya could look it up!")
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To: Vinylly

There are people who can change passport photos skillfully enough that a microscopic exam would be necessary to detect to fraud.


13 posted on 03/10/2014 5:09:04 PM PDT by JimSEA
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
Interpol states there are 40 million passports flagged in their files from information have viewed today.
14 posted on 03/10/2014 5:12:15 PM PDT by no-to-illegals (Scrutinize our government and Secure the Blessing of Freedom and Justice)
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To: Vinylly
Passports have your photo in it. Don’t passport checkers compare your face with the passport photo?

In the old days, it was possible to replace the photo. If they don't check against a database, as well as against your face, they are accepting the passport at face value. Or, they may just be checking that it's a valid number.

15 posted on 03/10/2014 5:14:55 PM PDT by Pearls Before Swine
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Don’t know if anyone mention it, but we have tens of millions right here in the U.S. with fraudulent ID of all types...And they illegally vote, work, and collect tax paid prizes and gifts from your government.


16 posted on 03/10/2014 5:19:50 PM PDT by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
One more example of how useless the whole concept of "security through identification" is. The US government has made ID one of the main pillars of security - which is why IDs are checked by the TSA, at the entrances of government buildings, etc.

But as this report shows, fake passports are readily available and in widespread use. If the Interpol database were used regularly then spying would be difficult. So it is likely that the database is widely ignored.

Fake licenses, or real ones generated by corrupt government officials with fake names are also widespread. Street prices of under $500 indicate just how common and easy to get they are.

If Interpol now says a few percent of passengers having fake passports isn't unheard of, you can assume hundreds of people fly daily in the USA using fake IDs. So much for all that effort checking IDs.

17 posted on 03/10/2014 5:24:35 PM PDT by freeandfreezing
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

POTUS


18 posted on 03/10/2014 5:26:44 PM PDT by TigersEye (Stupid is a Progressive disease.)
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To: dragnet2

I believe there is one in the white hut that is using a fraudulent Social Security number.


19 posted on 03/10/2014 5:28:19 PM PDT by The Sons of Liberty (Who but a TYRANT shoves down another man's throat what he has exempted himself from?)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Obama does...


20 posted on 03/10/2014 5:30:53 PM PDT by crz
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